Parthenon, 1; Xavier, 0

With Leslie's sister Karen in town with her four girls, we decided that today was a good time to go see the Parthenon. For those that don't know, Nashville, the "Athens of the South", has the only full scale replica of the Parthenon in Athens in the world. It's not a replica of the current ruins, but of the original building in its heyday. It's quite impressive sitting in the middle of Centennial Park just off the Vanderbilt campus. Well, our youngest, the fearless Xavier, decided to walk along the edge of a large step and see if he could balance himself. He couldn't. His head bounced off the first step, and then the next. He came away with a bloody nose, scrapped knee, and two large spots on his forehead. These spots may look like scrapes in the photo, but they are in fact nothing of the sort. They are two large areas where blunt force broke all the vessels in his little forehead. We'll have a lot of explaining to do at church tomorrow. But no more than last week when our same child pulled the fire alarm at the end of the Sunday school hour. We're making quite an impression here, I'm sure.

Spreading Out

From here on out this blog will only be for family posts. I've started a new blog for thoughts and notes related to my ministry. Of course, these two things are not to be put in separate boxes, and occasionally I will cross-post thoughts or stories related to my family and faith. But many things, like the post that I'm going to follow this one up with, fit more neatly in the family category, while notes on my study of Jonah, etc, will fit more neatly in the ministry category. So there you go. It isn't finished yet, but for the sake of not having to come back and edit this post later, you can find my new blog at mtbradley.net.

Scooter Lesson No. 1

They say that when you ride a motorcycle you should pay very careful attention and anticipate what each car around you may do and be ready to act. The problem that makes this so is that "the people in the cars are NEVER looking for you and therefore never SEE you." I found out today that a far more annoying party cannot see me: Traffic lights. You may or may not be aware that most traffic lights are not on a regular pattern, instead they look for traffic in each lane in order to determine who gets what signal and for how long. I don't know if this is done by weight or by magnetic detection or what. But whatever is required to "be detected" I don't possess on my scooter. I sat at a light through two cycles last night without getting a green because I was the only one wanting to go straight in my lane. Today I didn't get a protected left turn (where I always get one in my car) because there "wasn't anyone" in my lane wanting to turn left. As far as the traffic lights in Green Hills are concerned, I and my scooter just aren't there.

Scooter Days

We got a scooter on Saturday! I took the boys for a spin around the driveway and then went on a fun ride of my own through the neighborhood. My ride in this morning sealed it. I'm hooked. With temps in the high 60s or low 70s and no traffic between the house and the church, I was in heaven. Now I wish I had a longer commute! (Just kidding, Lord!!!)

We Made It!

Another update to let you all know we made it. The drive was only 10 hours! So we are closer to Dallas than my in-laws who live in El Paso. Anyway...I'm at my desk on my first day at the office. Leslie and the boys are at home getting stuff sorted out. Our household goods arrived yesterday and Mayflower did a great job with the move. Nothing important was damaged or missing. You wouldn't believe the weather here in Nashville. Simply breathtaking. I sat in the shade and was almost cold yesterday as the breeze blew through the front yard in the middle of the day.

The Lord continues to bless us far beyond what we deserve. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.